Good day to you all. I hope you are doing great. My current story (
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2259089/born-to-be-a-monster-decided-to-be-a-human/) isn't doing so well. I haven't received any comments (, so I don't know what the matter is. Could anyone check it out and tell me why it's bad? Maybe my grammar is poor; perhaps the pacing is to blame, or the dialogue is too dull. Maybe the characters aren't interesting, or the action is bloated. Or perhaps I overdescribe events — or don't describe them enough.
Any insight would be appreciated. Don't worry about being blunt. My goal is to improve as an author and eventually produce something worthy for people to read.
I read your first chapter fully, and I don’t think your writing is bad at all. In fact, your descriptions and sensory details are quite strong and vivid.
However, I had trouble clearly visualizing what was happening. It often felt like I was getting flashes of detailed imagery without a stable scene to anchor them. Because of that, the action became confusing and a bit overwhelming to follow.
I think the main issue isn’t grammar or ideas... it’s clarity. There’s a lot happening very quickly, and the reader isn’t given enough grounding (like spatial layout, positioning, or a simple frame of reference) before the action begins.
For example, while reading I found myself asking:
a. Where exactly is Draa?
b. Is he inside or outside? In a tunnel or out in the open desert?
c. Where are the enemies in relation to him?
d. Where are his allies during the fight?
Because these basics aren’t clearly established, it becomes difficult to track the action.
Another challenge is the visual load. The story introduces several unfamiliar elements all at once:
a. Draa (not fully human)
b. the drones (insectoid, but unclear size/shape)
c. the feeder (hard to picture)
d. Eshtu (complex body structure with legs, pincers, and stinger)
Individually these are interesting, but together they become hard to process without clearer, simpler introduction.
One suggestion I’d recommend is restructuring the opening a bit. You could consider splitting this into two chapters:
a. Use the current opening as a hook (it already has strong atmosphere)
b. Then slow down and establish the setting, characters, and physical layout more clearly before diving deeper into action
Since this is a post-apocalyptic setting (not something familiar like urban fantasy), readers need a bit more grounding early on to build a mental picture of the world.
Overall, the core ideas and writing quality are good... the main thing holding it back right now is readability and clarity. If that improves, your strengths will stand out much more.
Edit:
Lastly, I don’t think you need to worry too much about performance right now. Considering how recently you started posting, your current numbers don’t seem unusual. Early growth is usually slow, especially for original stories, so I wouldn’t take the lack of comments as a sign that your story is bad.
The title is clear and works fine. The cover might not be helping much in attracting attention, but that’s something you can always improve later.